THE ROLE OF ADVERTISING IN MARKETING OF HOTEL SERVICES
ABSTRACT
This study is intended to find out the role of Advertising on the Marketing of hotel services in Enugu metropolis. This include investigation whether Advertisement helps hotels in creation of public image also to know whether advertising is necessary in making customer to be aware of hotel service in term of moral, ethnics and norms in the advertisement of hotel services furthermore, the study is intended to find out if hoteliers undertake advertising in view of its impact to hotel services. The total population for the study is 200 staff of Mac-Davos hotel in Enugu State. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up house keepers, front desk officers, bartenders and chefs was used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
A mere mention of the hotel and catering busing will immediately call to our minds to travel industry and tourism, plus is due to the functional relationship between the two advertising has contributed a lot to boost a better images of both major and minor hotels. In every part of the world hotel services provides meals, drinks, attraction, accommodation etc. to the general public or persons in transit especially people traveling to place where they have neither their own houses nor any relation to cater for their needs. Such people will like to know some few things about hotels and catering services in their transiting area. In other words they may like to know about available hotels, the categories of such hotels, the rooms and suit tares, the type of food served, the necessary comfort, customers are accorded with the games, that is both indoor and outdoor games available and perhaps any other special features that make such hotel appealing to the sojourners in transit. These characteristics of hotels are boasted by advertisement in so many countries of the world.
In Nigeria for example, major hotel such as Sheraton Hotel, Eko hotel, Federal palace hotel, Nicon- Nugo just to mention but a few, most of these hotels have made impressionable image both National and international and the phrase go to advertisement that have heralded their various characteristics, class placement status to the public generally without advertising the image of their hotels would not be so diffused to the public for instance recently in Enugu some hotels have come up with the advertising of their services. Besides, advertising gives amputees colours to the various environmental factors arrived visitors attractions associated with hotels in the metropolis of any country depending on the nature of the country. Today many countries try to add cultural impression into their hotel merely to portray history of the country to transit and newly arrived visitors to that country. Advertising therefore gives sample interpretation of not only hotel but also countries where the hotel is situated. However, the impact of advertising on the marketing of hotel services is noticed in many countries that it cannot be over emphasized. The case of Nigeria is very vivid for example, major hotels in metropolitan cities have taken advertising as an act of informing the public about its existence, merits and where the hotel is located in other words, it make no sense to build better mouse trap and keep it secret that is, it will make no difference if a nice hotel with well matured staffs and adequate amenities is built and kept secret but advertising proves a better ground for its publicity to the public, the quality of services accorded to customers and recommendation about staffs competent. Secondly, one can say that any hotel that undertakes advertising will cut down the cost of using personal selling like employment of salespersons to take on behalf of the activities of the hotel.
Advertising is a vital tool to every hotel that needs growth. Furthermore advertising enables customers to know various hotels in Enugu metropolis and to choose which to patronize although to be seek / catch new customers but are designed to retain the existing customers. Despite the fact it promotes the image of the hotel that embark on it before the general public it also make the service of those hotels very unique from other hotels and also make them to obtain large share in marketing of hotel services. Hence in all circumstances, there are some major impacts of advertising on the marketing of hotel services. Every entrepreneurial project requires early study on some process of informing the public of its existence and merits. In the same vein every hotel requires some piece of information on informing the public and its merit. Advertising stimulates the sale of good products and distribution of bad products. This implies that advertising stimulate sale when the product or services being advertised has good quality but destroys a bad quality services or product likewise hotel services which have good qualities will be entranced using advertising and be destroyed if the hotel does not live up to the expectation of customers or target market. Brands would be dead without advertising, advertising is known to create brand image and to undertake advertising, a hotel can create a good image of itself before the public.
Advertising is also very vital because it helps to raise the standard of our locally manufactured services and for the development of arts. Advertising does not jack, its pulls it is continuous it will exert an irresistible force, it is no game for the gutter. It is a game for the side live if you take to run a successful business. Advertising contributes to the economy by contributing to personal selling and making it a cheaper operation. Advertising lowers the cost of information about brands, qualities, heads to increase in brand quality, and lower average price per unit quality and including sampler and alternative cost. Advertising leads to market power which assumes that advertising changes sales, makes demand less chars tic and create durable brand loyalties that cannot be tested. Finally, it is convement to say that hotel uses advertising to get information with particular reference to its impact in marketing of hotel services and good image.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Mac-Davos turtles in Enugu State are faced with a lot of problem as it is found in other turtle in Enugu metropolis. Mac –Davos hotel is faced with so many hindrances over their advertisement programmes. These problems are inappropriate media for advertising programme, poor managerial skill and techniques, high cost of hotel services, lack of special offers to encourage tourists, individual poor attitude to leisure, poor location of hotels. Government fiscal monetary policy, tourism industry is skill under developed, lack of no tourist attraction and more, mostly the safety least in the society is still low.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of this study are:
1. To identify the strategies used by advertising to create awareness of hotel services.
2. To find whether advertising can be used to gain competitive advantages over other competitors.
3. To identify the appropriate media to use for advertising hotel services.
4. To determine the technique of advertising to be use in other to attract public attention.
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher
H0: There are no appropriate media to use for advertising hotel services.
H1: There are no appropriate media to use for advertising hotel services
H02: Marketing strategies adopted by Mac-Davos hotel impact negatively on the profit of the hotel.
H2: Marketing strategies adopted by Mac-Davos impact positively on the profit of the hotel.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is primarily aimed at helping these researchers, the management of Mac-Davos Hotel Enugu, students in the business field the study is also aimed at exposing the danger of not advertising their marketing services.
Finally, the study will help in pointing out weakness in their management techniques and skill which hinders the rate of profit they make from customer.
SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The scope of the study covers the role of advertising in marketing of hotel services in Enugu metropolis. . The researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;
a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study.
b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.
c) Organizational privacy: Limited Access to the selected auditing firm makes it difficult to get all the necessary and required information concerning the activities.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
ADVERTISING: – This means any paid, non- personal form of communication with an identified sponsor.
DEMAND: – This is the quantity of goods and services that can pay for at any given price and at a given period of time.
MARKETING: – This is the performance of business activities that direct the flow of good and service from producer to consumer.
MARKETING MIX: – These are set of marketing tools, which a firm uses to pursue its marketing objective in the target market.
MOTIVATION: – This is an individual’s inner state of mind that causes him or her to behave in a way that ensures the accomplishment of some goal.
PROFIT: – This is a favourable difference between the total expenses and total sales of a given product or service.
PROMOTIONAL MIX:- This are tools used in forwarding an idea about a product or services.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART:- This is the representation of an organizational structure primarily by means of graph or sketch illustration.
SALE PROMOTION: - This is one of the promotional mix used for pursuing the sales of product above an existing level.
1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows:
Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding. Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.
